Heavy is the Head that Wears the Crown

Survival For The Fittest

Lilith opens her eyes, her vision adjusting to the dim light of the castle's drapes. The dark clouded around her head as she spun towards an open window. A candlelight flickered softly at nothing in particular. Sitting at her vanity, it indulged in conversation with the reflective glass across it.

Wait...

She takes in her surroundings again, and something isn't right. For one, she's in her old bedroom. Where the bed was wide and long, with velvet blankets and cushions lined out neatly around the mattress. The bed she used to sleep in back when she was married.

The curtains are still intact. And she specifically remembers ripping them out. Across from her are her changing room panels, with dresses hanging at the sides. It's not the dresses she's taken to wearing the last few weeks. Those had become less eye catching and more comfortable to say the least.

She's... in the castle.

Why is she in the castle?

Lilith was in the hospital. She and the others had ended up there. She's nearly certain she had. Or, at least, that was the last thing she remembered.

Whatever the case was, she should not be back in the castle. Much less her old bedroom. Where she no longer slept. And where everything was back to where it was.

...

Everything...

Was back...

To where it was...

That didn't make sense.

She searches the contents of the room, trying to make as much sense as she could from the resources she had.

There are... declarations. Demand for certain items, price changes, wait. She's written these before. And they're all dating back to.... no. No, that didn't make sense. None of this made sense!

She can't have gone back this far. Or even back at all!

She's dreaming. She had to be. Why else would she end up here?

Surely she was only dreaming.

The missing posters on her desk made her stomach churn and she immediately felt sick. She squeezed the fabric of her dress tightly. Breathing hammering in her chest as she took a step back from her desk.

No. No, that didn't make sense. Her daughter is safe. Her daughter was in the castle, in her room with her siblings. She's safe and protected and not dead.

She's not missing. She... she found her. She's not dead. She isn't in danger. She's safe. She's safe. She's safe. She's safe.

She needs to remember that.

"You're a mess." a cold voice calls from behind her.

She's most definitely dreaming.

You're dreaming, she promised herself. You're dreaming. He's not here, you know that. He's under the boiling sea. He's under there rotting away with the same curse he placed on your sister. You cursed him. He's underneath the ground far away from you and He's. Not. Here.

Belos is not here. Her ex-husband is not here. He is not here. That is not possible.

"You're not here. You cannot hurt me."

"What in heaven's name are you talking about?"

Breathe. She has to breathe. She has to remember that he's not there. That this is all a dream and her memories are taunting her. None of this is real and she's going to wake up soon.